Administrative and Compliance Lessons from Recent High-Profile Reinstatement Cases 

Decisions of the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff involving high-profile athletes during the 2010 winter period raises the importance of an institution implementing administrative and rules-compliance measures: to minimize amateurism, recruiting, extra-benefits and eligibility violations; and to address instances when a student-athlete's eligibility is in question. Specifically, based on our experience representing NCAA member institutions with eligibility-related cases, the Michael L. Buckner Law Firm recommends presidents, chancellors, general counsel and athletics administrators consider the following checklist:

1. Conduct due-diligence reviews of all high-profile prospective student-athletes, including high-profile transfer student-athletes, to ensure compliance with NCAA amateurism, awards and benefits, recruiting and eligibility legislation. [Note: The review should be in addition to the evaluation conducted by the NCAA Eligibility Center.]

2. Implement due-diligence monitoring of all high-profile enrolled student-athletes to ensure compliance with NCAA amateurism, awards and benefits and eligibility legislation (e.g., monitoring of athletics facilities, as well as student-athletes' housing, vehicles and employment).

3. Incorporate individuals associated with high-profile student-athletes in due-diligence reviews and monitoring activities to verify that parties did not violate NCAA amateurism, awards and benefits and recruiting legislation.

4. Develop a formal policy or procedure to comply with the "strict-liability" standard announced by the Committee on Infractions in the 2009 University of Memphis infractions report (i.e., should the student-athlete be proactively declared ineligible and reinstatement sought). In other words, a policy or procedure to address instances when a student-athlete or the university receives notice of an issue regarding a prospective or enrolled student-athlete's athletics eligibility.

5. Establish a written investigation procedure for reinstatement cases involving high-profile student-athletes, including: a) ensuring all relevant documentation is collected and preserved (e.g., comprehensive sweeps of all electronic communications); b) conducting detailed interviews with all persons with relevant information; c) analyzing applicable NCAA case-precedent that may indicate whether a rules-violation occurred and/or whether mitigation factors are present in the case; and d) retaining experts in specialized fields to provide unique perspective or data pertinent to the case.

Basis for recommendations: University of Southern California, NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions Report No. 323 (June 10, 2010); University of Memphis, NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions Report No. 306 (August 20, 2009); and Media reports concerning alleged rules-violations involving sports teams at Auburn University, University of Oregon and Ohio State University.

Contact Michael L. Buckner (954-941-1844; mbuckner@michaelbucknerlaw.com) for additional compliance-related recommendations relating to the processing of student-athlete reinstatement cases.

Spring Webinar: "Top Ten Things to Consider When Your University is Confronted with an NCAA Enforcement Investigation"

Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2011
 

Time: 12 noon to 1:00 pm EDT (9:00 am to 10:00 am PDT)

Course Summary: A telephone call or letter from the NCAA enforcement staff to a college or university concerning the staff's receipt of an alleged rules-violation is the start of a complex, daunting and high-profile investigative and administrative process. The webinar will provide participants with the "top ten things" presidents, general counsel, athletics administrators and other institutional employees should consider before and during the NCAA enforcement process. In fact, over the course of the 60-minute web-based workshop, the participants will review the best practices, techniques and strategies to place their colleges and universities in the best position prior to, and during the course of, an NCAA infractions case.

Click here to find out more information on, or to register for, this workshop. 

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